The Forgotten Boy and The Rabbit
by Lillithrose
Summary: Taking place a few days after the events of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Chie and Sho slowly become friends - and who knows, maybe more - but the path there isn't smooth by any means. Especially since no one trusts Sho. Some Ultimax story mode spoilers. For full cover image visit /art/Chie-and-Sho-Enter-the-Meat-Dimension-501982724
1. Chapter 1

_The Forgotten Boy and The Rabbit_

_*sigh*_

_The past few days have been...quiet._

_Ever since he left, I've been really bored. Even more bored than before the P1 Climax. God. This really sucks._

Sho wanders around the quiet town of Inaba with no true destination in mind. More than once he has felt suspicious eyes watching his every step, but never once did anyone bother him. He shoves his hands into his pockets then kicks a small stone down the street.

_So much for bonds and friendship huh?_

With a heavy sigh, Sho moves on toward the river. His feet are heavy as he treks forward. Who knew the world could be so quiet? Ever since Minazuki has left, or whatever he did, Sho has realized just how quiet the world is. More often than not, he wandered around town listening to the cicadas sing their annoying song or the chatter of townsfolk walking around. Even when meandering around aimlessly, no one bothers to say a word to Sho. Rather, they just give him awkward glances before scurrying the other direction. Things hadn't gotten better since the P1 Climax...they got worse. Much worse.

_At least back then I had him. But, hey, maybe he isn't ACTUALLY..._

His eyes water up a bit as he reaches the riverbank. The calming waves sway back and forth, dancing toward land as if beckoning Sho to join them. Instead, he sits down under a tree and allows his mind to wander. Lost in the thoughts of Minazuki and his hectic attempt to destroy the world, Sho finds his mind wandering to sadder times – as if there were any other kinds of memories in his tired head. He remembers when Minazuki first awoke. At last, there had been someone else for him to talk to. And for the first time ever, this other person had truly seemed to care. It had been a magical – albeit painful – thing for him. Ikutski had never really listened to anything he had said as a child. Rather, he had forced him to train over and over, develop his skills in hopes that Sho's persona would awake and they could wreck havoc together. But instead, Minazuki awoke to the persona and thus more pain.

_If it hadn't been for Minazuki, would I have made it through everything? Probably not._

*_sigh*_

Shaking his head, Sho decides to stop thinking as his thoughts merely sink down further and further into the well of sadness within him, which in turn just makes him angry. Somehow, Yu, Labrys and the rest of the team had made a slight change within him. He didn't like it either, these stupid tears had been daring to fall for days. But, Sho kept trying to stay strong. Surely Minazuki would return soon. He just overworked himself. Right?

_I mean, trying to kill everyone in the world isn't exactly easy work. Hahahaha. A couple day long nap seems pretty normal for that right? Right!?_

With another sigh, Sho lays down on his back and watches the clouds sway through the sky. Without him realizing it, his mind begins to wander again. His _father_ had been such a miserable fool. He had forced Sho through so much pain, suffering and strenuous training. Ikutski had pushed him, prodded him and left him all alone nearly every day. That idiot had left more than one bruise on Sho's once fragile body. But...at least he was someone. Sure, when Minazuki came around, things got better. At least there was someone to stand up for him once in a while. And Minazuki was strong! Even when Sho was left alone, he was never _really_ alone. Minazuki had kept him company in his own way.

Watching the clouds, Sho realizes just how desperately he misses those days. Those days of not being alone. Even the torturing wouldn't be so bad if he just had Minazuki back. Not realizing it, Sho begins to cry. He'd only ever cared about two people in his entire life. Two lonesome tears roll down his cheeks as the realization hits him...

_First my father then my brother. The only two people to ever give a rat's ass about me were both killed. I got my damn wish. And there's nothing I can do about it. I really am completely alone. And it's more boring then ever. I'm just a forgotten piece of trash in a pile of garbage. God. This just sucks._


	2. Chapter 2

Not too far away, Chie just finished up with school for the day. It's been a couple days now since Yu went back home. School started up just like normal despite the hectic break they had. First Labrys then that crazy Sho guy...

Pumping herself up, Chie starts to bounce up and down as she goes down the street. Sure, it HAD been pretty crazy...but...it was sorta fun too. It had really gotten her blood pumping and now she just wanted to work out and practice all the time.

_Who knows when that Sho guy will be back, right? I gotta stay strong so I can protect everyone!_

She kicks the air then and watches as a passerby ducks, a little frightened by her sudden outburst. A slight blush comes to her cheeks as Chie looks toward the ground and continues on, attempting to hold herself together until she got to the riverbank for practice.

_Man, in the TV – and in that weird red fog – no one blinked an eye when I pumped myself up. Why does everyone think it's so weird? I mean, I'm just a kid trying to stay strong and healthy right?_

As Chie walks, she thinks about what Yu and Mitsuru told her about Sho. Apparently, he had been a test subject of some crazy guy named...Ikutski something or other. Not just any test subject either, the favorite and the youngest. Poor guy probably never even knew how bad he really had it huh? And it wasn't even that he had split personalities either. According to Mitsuru, that crazy Ikutski guy had put a "plume of dusk" into Sho to try to make him have a persona. How crazy. Anyway, the plume of dusk actually made its own personality thus there were two people living in the same body. And as crazy as that is, Minazuki actually WAS able to use a persona while Sho wasn't. Well, at least until after everything. Yu had said Sho was finally able to use Minazuki's persona in the end. But, doesn't that mean that Minazuki must have died in the midst of all of that.

_Isn't that kinda sad though? I mean, he already lost his messed up dad. But then he lost the other person he grew up with too. Man, that's harsh._

Shrugging off the awkward feelings, Chie picks up speed to head toward the river bank. She would train these weird feelings off. You aren't suppose to feel bad for the enemy right? And she trots down the stairs, her heart stops as she sees a head of brilliant crimson hair laying near the river. That couldn't be...Sho?!

Quietly, Chie steps forward enough to check if it really is the boy they'd fought against only a few days earlier. When she sees the unmistakable x shaped scar, Chie gasps and steps back.

_What do I do?! Yu said we should try to be friends...but Sho DID try to kill everyone. I don't know if I can really trust him._

She paces back and forth quietly before stopping to observe the still lying boy. Upon closer inspection, Chie realizes that Sho is crying. She makes a tight fist and turns around to leave, still not sure what this crazy guy could be up to, but then Yu's words pop back in her head.

_**You have to show him how important friendship really is. **_

_If I run away how will I be able to show him that? And Mitsuru said he hasn't ever known anyone but Ikutski and Minazuki...and now he doesn't have either of them. Plus he's crying..._

Making two tight fists and taking a deep breath, Chie turns back around and walks over to Sho. When he doesn't notice her standing near him, Chie observes him for a moment. His eyes seems hollow and sad, a total opposite of the crazed, maniacal look that was there during the P1 Climax. Tired tears slowly roll down his cheeks and over the vicious looking scar on his face. Laying there, under the tree near the riverbank, Sho's spirit seems to have crumbled to pieces. At last, Chie clears her throat and tries to sound strong.

"You're Sho right?" She barks out the quick sentence then watches as Sho seems to jump a little and simultaneously spin away from her. With a subtle arm motion, he attempts to wipe away the tears without Chie noticing.

"Yeah. What about it?" Faking his typical harsh demeanor, Sho continues to rub away the tears, not wanting anyone to see him looking so weak. "You're one of those dumb 'Investigation Team' people right? Are you hear to tell me all about how great 'bonds' are? Or maybe you just want to tell me how _magical _'friendship is, huh?" Though it still sounds angry, his words fall a little short of the intimidating tone they had during the P1 Climax.

"Actually, I came here to practice and just happened to see you over here..."

_What do I say now?_

"Oh and you just _had_ to bother me. Couldn't have just done your own thing and left me the hell alone?!" With his face finally dry, Sho hops up and crosses his arms over his chest. As he hadn't done much crying before, Sho doesn't realize that his glowing blue eyes are still bloodshot.

"Well, um..." Chie swallows a large lump in her throat then exhales slowly." Actually, I saw that you were crying and so I – uh – thought I'd-"

"Oh! I see so you came to make fun of me. Real thoughtful." Sho rolls his eyes then lean on a tree. "I left you and your stupid friends alone so why can't you just do the same to me?!" He rolls his eyes then looks up the branches of the tree.

"I was wondering if..."Chie bites her lip. Maybe she should just leave him alone. But he has to be sad, especially if... "Has Minazuki came back?"

"Nope." Sho spits the word out violently. "You guys must have killed him." He looks at her with hatred in his eyes. "So thanks for that." Sho shrugs then turns to leave, but not before punching the tree with all his might. A few leaves float to the ground.

"I'm really sorry." Chie chokes out the words. She watches as Sho stumbles and seems to freeze up. "I don't think we knew how to handle things. We – we didn't know what we were up against. I doubt we would have killed him if-"

"If what?!" Sho spins around and flails his arms up in the air. "If you'd known I was a pathetic little kid who just wanted a friend?! If you'd known I'd been tortured all my life?" He keeps stepping closer and closer to Chie. "Or maybe you wouldn't have killed him if you'd known he was the only person who cared about me? Is that it?" With one final flail, Sho slams his hand into the tree again. "Too late now huh? Not that you really care."

"No that's not true." Chie tightens her fist then takes a fighter's stance. "Yu said you like to fight to make friends, well then lets fight because I'm gonna be your friend. Starting right now." As the final words exit her lips, Chie begins to hop on her toes. Sho just stares at her.

"Who says I even wanna be your friend, huh?" Despite what he says, Sho's lips curl up just a little. "What are you suppose to even be? A damned rabbit?"

"IT'S KUNG FU!" Chie jumps toward him and is surprised when she doesn't land a hit. Even when caught off guard, Sho is fast. She continues to barrage him with attacks until they are both out of breath.

Together, they sit onto the soft, green grass and take deep breaths. Sho seems to feel a little bit better, but Chie can see that he is still not himself. She wants to say something, but at the same time, she doesn't entirely trust him yet.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, rabbit, you were pretty good." He utters breathlessly.

"I'm not a rabbit." Chie grumbles.

"Suuuure." He tries to smile but another small tear slides down his cheek instead. With one swift motion, Sho turns away then angrily wipes away his tear. Sighing, Sho collapses onto the ground and stares up at the clouds again. "How can you stand this boring town? There's nothing to do here."

"I-" Chie looks into his eyes and sees a pain there she couldn't begin to understand. "Are you ok?"

"Pshaw! What's that suppose to mean?!" Sho's voice becomes boisterous but his body stays still.

"It's just...you look so sad." She feels her defenses dropping. Maybe Yu had been right. Maybe all Sho really wanted was a friend. And, Chie felt pretty confident she would be a good friend if Sho would give her the chance.

"I look sad, huh?" Sho sits up and looks Chie directly in the eyes.

"Have you ever lost someone close to you?" His words sound a bit different then. The bitterness in his voice becomes deafening while his violent speech calms. Saying nothing, Chie shakes her head. "Well lucky you." He nearly spits out the words. "I only knew two people." Holding up two fingers – as if to clarify – Sho continues. "Two. That's it. And guess what? Your stupid friend Mitsuru and her gang killed one of them and then you guys killed the other. So yeah maybe I am a little bit sad. But mainly I'm just-!" Sho cuts his own words off then grinds his teeth.

"You're just lonely?" Chie guesses. "Well, I can be your friend. Heck, we can go get food right now. That's the best thing after a good fight, right?" She stands up and dusts herself off then offers Sho and hand.

At first, Sho doesn't move. Rather, he just stares at the open hand, unsure what to do. No one has ever _offered_ to do anything with him. No one has ever shown him kindness. Could this girl really be serious? After one final breath, Sho pushes her hand away and jumps to his feet. Despite the fight, Sho doesn't seem all that tired. His agility is still spot on and his strength doesn't seem all too lacking either.

"So. You wanna be my friend." Sho pretends to think about it for a minute. "I guess I'll bite. I am a bit hungry."

"I hope you like meat, because I could reaaaaally go for a beef bowl right about now." Chie leads Sho down the street. As she does, she sees the looks he gets from all of the townsfolk. How long has he been dealing with this kind of treatment? No wonder he thinks the whole world sucks.

"A rabbit that likes meat. Kinda funny huh?" Sho tries to joke around but his words come out dry. Chie turns to him suddenly and gives him a light kick.

"I'm not a rabbit." Chie huffs then walks through the doors of Aiya. As she is somewhat of a regular here, the chef waves to her though eyes the strange boy following behind her. Brushing off her green jacket, Chie takes a seat then shouts back, "two regulars." She rubs her stomach as the smell of the delicious beef has already begun to tickle her nose. Almost forgetting who she was with, Chie lets her guard down completely until Sho plops down in the seat beside her.

His eyes don't seem like the same menacing blue eyes anymore. Even after fighting, Sho's eyes still seemed mainly empty. How badly had they messed him up? Sure, it was all his fault for trying to destroy the entire world but, wasn't there more they could have done. After all, Chie doesn't even remember searching for him after everything was over. Had they really just left him alone in the TV world? Man, they really could be oblivious sometimes.

"Stop looking at me like that." Sho barks upon seeing Chie's pity filled eyes. He rests his head on one arm and looks around Aiya. This wasn't his first time being here, in fact, he rather liked the food at Aiya. More than once, he'd been placed in the corner of this small place when Yu and his boisterous group came by. But this was the first time he'd been here with anyone beside Minazuki. Most of the time people just assumed he was crazy, sitting in the corner mumbling to himself.

_Yeah, I guess I did look pretty crazy._

With a sigh, Sho looks over at Chie. Despite having fought to save her town only a few days ago, she was happy. Her eyes glistened – probably at the thought of the delicious meat she would be eating – and a tiny smile was plastered on her face. The P1 nickname had been perfect. That was for certain. But, part of him really wanted to know HOW she was so perky after all of that. Is that the power of 'bonds' and 'friendship.' Just the simple thought makes Sho's stomach churn. Was this hatred, or was this now nerves? Sho honestly wasn't sure what he felt besides a little hungry.

"So, I know you're a pretty big fan of meat and all, your regular the giant beef bowl, right?" Sho looks Chie over quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice. "I don't get how you stay so thin despite eating so much of this crap." His voice is bitter, but not because of Chie's inability to gain weight.

"I work out a lot, thank you very much!" Chie props herself up when the chef brings two heaping bowls of meat her way. She quickly grabs her chopsticks and grins then looks over to Sho. "You are gonna eat that right?" She points her chopsticks toward the second bowl.

"Oh that's for me? I figured you just ordered yourself two bowls." He speaks plainly, causing the chef to chuckle a little under his breath before walking away. Running a hand through his red hair, Sho inhales deeply and can't help but be thankful for the food. Walking around town all day had left him pretty hungry. When he looks over, Chie has one eyebrow raised then she punches him in the arm.

"Stop being a jerk already!" She tries to joke with him but watches as Sho simply sighs and starts to eat without saying a word. Surprisingly, he seems to have nearly as large an appetite as Chie. They finish their bowls at nearly the same time. Chie wipes her face up then faces Sho with a look of surprise. "Most people have a hard time finishing that up." She states this as she places money down for the food.

"Good thing I'm not most people then, huh?" Sho hops out of his seat then cracks his knuckles. "You up for another fight? I could use the work out." He gives her a convoluted smile as he heads out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Back in Aiya, Kanji had seen the two of them together and couldn't believe his eyes. Why was Chie with that maniac?! Sho had literally just tried to kill everyone and now Chie was just prancing around with him without a care. He quickly dialed everyone's number as he wasn't really sure what to do. Had that guy brainwashed Chie somehow?! Man, if that's the case, that Sho guy would need to be pounded in the ground...again.

"So, I guess you must have figured out how to get out of the TV world huh?" Chie asks Sho as they walk out the front of Aiya. Sho pretends to be taken aback.

"Well, duh! I _am_ awesome." Sho feels a little more like himself now that he's had some food. The more he talks with Chie, the more he is able to pretend that it isn't such a big deal that Minazuki has fallen silent. "What'd you think I'd just keel over in the TV world? HA!" He felt his spirits slowly lifting.

"Well geez. Sorry for wondering." As Chie chatted with him, she felt her nerves becoming calm. Sho didn't seem to be so scary after all...well, anymore at least. Then all of a sudden, Kanji was in front of them. He looked mad and Chie thought she knew why. But Sho was busy showing off, so he bumps into Kanji before noticing him.

"Hey buddy why don't you watch where you're walking, huh?" Sho barks quickly. He quickly reaches a defensive stance. While it had only been briefly, Sho remembers seeing this irritating face. He didn't need someone else trying to start crap. Chie has been surprisingly easy to get along with, but Sho didn't think he could deal with someone else quite so soon. Plus, Kanji didn't look like he was trying to be a friend.

"What are you doing with Chie?" Kanji growls. His stance is strong and demanding but this doesn't seem to intimidate Sho as much as Kanji had hoped.

"What's it to you?!" Sho sneers. "You gonna do something about it?!"

Chie watches as Sho's aggressive nature quickly surfaces again. She tries to shoo away Kanji by tugging on Sho's sleeve. But neither of the two angry men back down.

"Come on guys don't do this." Chie interrupts then steps in front of Sho.

"I'M not doing anything!" Sho smirks toward Kanji then steps away. Sure, he was having fun with Chie, but a fight always sounds nice. After all, that's all he really knows. Since he was a kid, that was all he was really taught. And yeah, sure, he'd gotten a bit better since waking up from the coma, but he still didn't really know how to react to most situations.

"I'm fine Kanji-kun." Chie whispers as she watches Sho step away. "I'm trying to be friends with him like Yu said I should." She touches Kanji's arm and sighs. "I'll call if I need you. Just...let me try this ok?"

Kanji growls a bit then nods. And at that he takes his leave, keeping an uneasy eye on Chie as she dashes to catch up to the red haired murderer-wannabe.


	5. Chapter 5

"What was his problem?" Sho grumbles. Chie is a little shocked at the question.

"Well you DID just try to murder every living person...like, less than a week ago. And Kanji isn't exactly the calmest person around..." She looks Sho over and nods a little at what she sees when not fearing for her life. He's actually pretty easy on the eyes. Suddenly a deep blush comes to her cheeks.

_What was that? Did I just...Man, that's pretty bad._

"Yeah? So what? I failed and you guys won. Obviously your "bonds" are way stronger than me on my own." Sho kicks at the ground then messes up his hair a bit. "Anyway, did you wanna fight again?" He looks to the ground, almost embarrassed at the question. Chie sees the look and for a moment wonders why. But then she remembers, he bonds through fighting. And since he wanted to fight again already, Sho must feel like he's getting closer to her already.

"Sure! I could use a little training." She does a flip then lands on her toes. Sho watches her and rolls his eyes. "What?"

"You're a damned rabbit." He mumbles before darting off toward the grassy area near the river. Chie chases after him, having more fun than she had in a while. Sure, that new nickname wasn't exactly the best, but it was something. Yukiko was so busy with the inn while Yosuke and Teddie were constantly working at Junes, Chie had realized she was becoming lonely herself.

It felt good to get her legs moving.

Once they reached the grassy "training area," Chie took the first swing. This time as they fought, Chie spoke.

"You know, you're really strong. If you had been with us in the TV, we would have been able to take on anything for sure." She smiles and dodges out of the way before Sho dashes in her direction.

"Well duh. I knew that." Sho hardly sounds breathless. His eyes seem to be glowing a bit brighter as they battle. This is how he truly felt alive. Chie wonders, as she watches him, if he will ever seem as alive when doing anything else. "I guess you aren't too bad for a rabbit."

"I'm not a freaking rabbit!" Chie tries to take him down, but Sho is too quick. Instead, he uses his crazy agility and power to jump onto a tree branch and looks down at Chie mockingly.

"I dunno." He eyes her over then gives her a sideways grin. "You're small, bouncy and feisty. Kinda reminds me of a rabbit." Crossing his arms, Sho leans against the tree trunk.

"Ooohh! I'm so gonna get you for that!" Chie tries to get to the branch he stands on , but before she can reach him, Sho hops down and lands with ease. "Gah!" As she scoffs angrilly, Chie feels her hand slip from one of the smaller branches and she starts to fall.

Reacting with impeccable reflexes, Sho darts over and catches her. Upon hitting his arms, Chie feels his muscles and can't help but blush a little.

"Man, you're clumsy." He states then tosses her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" She punches at his chest and swings her legs, aiming for his back, but Sho just laughs. After marching around, deliberately carrying the light girl on his shoulder, Sho puts her down then collapses lazily onto the soft ground. He stares up at the now starry sky.

"Woulda sucked to have that fog around forever. The stars are kinda pretty." He props his hands under his head and allows his eyes to focus on the tiny dots of light. Before he knows it, Chie lays down beside him and looks up at the dark sky as well.

"Guess it's a good thing we stopped it then." She tries to be chipper but then feels a twinge of regret, realizing them stopping his dream also lead to the death of Minazuki. Hoping he wouldn't make some off-colored remark about it, Chie just sighs. "The stars are really bright tonight."

Silence engulfs the two of them for a while, but Chie can feel an uneasiness stirring within it. What was going through Sho's mind? Was he still wishing everyone was dead? Did he want to go on a killing spree? Did he just want her to go away?

"Hey Chie." Sho's voice finally crackles out of his barely moving lips and his eyes don't dare to move away from the stars. She turns her head and looks at him, responding only with a tiny 'hm?' His mouth opens for a second then he turns away from her eyes before he can find the strength to speak. "Do you..." He shakes his head again and bites his tongue.

Not wanting to force his words out, Chie simply sits beside him and waits for his words to come to him. Her curiosity was really getting the best of her though. His words had felt calm enough, but they seemed highly weighted. She turns her caramel colored eyes toward him and watches as Sho's breaths seem to be strained and his chest appears to be heavy. At last, Sho turns his eyes to Chie and sighs.

"Do you think Minazuki is still there somewhere?" His words scream of longing and his eyes are downtrodden. Never before had Chie seen such sadness. The pain tore at her heart but left her speechless. This was a situation that Yu would be far better in. Yu was always so quick on his feet and seemed to know what to say no matter the situation. "I mean, I'm sure you think we're both just big pieces of shit basically, but it's weird for him to...you know...not be there."

"I don't know." Chie finally blurts at last. "I mean, as long as you remember him, a piece of him will be around forever at least, right?" She bites her lip. God she was awful at this stuff.

"Yeah, well, fat lot of good it did to ask you." Sho sits up and sighs. "You should probably get home huh? You probably have a family that would love to know you're alive." His words sound even more bitter and his once calming facade seems to become harsh and cold again. Chie sits up and a sad look comes to her eyes. "Hey! Don't give me that crap."

"But I-!" Chie grinds her teeth. "Fine. Yeah. I'm sure I should get home." She stands up and stomps away, but before she can get far, Sho's hand brushes her arm nervously.

He couldn't explain why, but a slight blush came to his cheeks then. Trying to ignore it, he faced Chie and for the first time all night, was hesitant. When Chie's unquestioning eyes met his, Sho felt his heart skip a beat. What an odd feeling. How was he going to be able to muster up the strength to say something to her now? If not for her, he would have spent another day entirely alone. Mumbling something under his breath, Sho let out a deep breath. Cracking his knuckles, Sho tries to speak.

"I-well, um..." He scratches the back of his head then exhales loudly. "Thanks for today."

Chie gives him a warm smile then heads toward her home. "No problem. We should do this again." She looks over at him and can see an usual look on the boy's face. "What's wrong."

"It's...It's nothing!" Sho lies then hurries along beside her. Chie punches him in the arm and without a reason, Sho punches her back. She can tell he didn't even try to put any strength into the hit. They'd fought twice today, she knew he could hit far harder than that.

"Liar." Chie grins.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Sho looks back over his shoulder for only a moment. He sees nothing, so he turns back to Chie.

"Well it's not like this is easy to talk about you know!" Sho blushes a little then swallows a lump in his throat. "It's just that I've never..." He trails off then. Though his feet move at a steady pace, his words seem fast halted.

"You've never what?!" Chie jumps in front of him and places her hands on her hips. With serious eyes, she looks up to Sho and stands firm.

"I've never had anyone smile at me before." Sho admits as they finally reach Chie's front door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chie found it hard to move when those words left Sho's mouth. Never...had someone smile at him before. She couldn't imagine that kind of life. What if she had never felt anyone smile at her before. Man, that would be pretty miserable. It was hard to understand what a life Sho had to have lived up until now.

The two of them stand together in silence until Sho fakes a cough. He licks his teeth then clicks his tongue. His face is still a little flush as he thinks about Chie's brilliant smile. For some reason, this tiny thing made Sho happier than he was use to.

Never had anyone smile at him...Chie takes a deep breath then smiles again. She watches as Sho becomes slightly sheepish. At that, she steps forward and gives Sho a hug.

Unsure what to make of this motion, Sho simply stands still. He looks down to the tiny girl who now has her arms encircling him and can't help but note how much taller he is than she. She comes up to his chest, not even his shoulder.

The closeness makes Sho feel odd so he begins to squirm in her arms. Trying to push her away, Sho clears his throat.

"Uh...well. I think you can let go now. This isn't really the time for a grapple huh?" He watches as Chie looks up at him baffled.

"It was a hug you big jerk!" She watches as a look of confusion crosses Sho's face. "You know...a hug?"

"Yeah. Sure. A hug, whatever." Sho shoos her toward her door. His heart was pounding in his chest though he didn't know why. Their fight had ended long ago and he knew better than to think it was from such a simple brawl as that. "Well, until next time." Sho states this as he starts to leave but is caught off guard by Chie's voice one final time.

"You should come to school tomorrow. Could be fun." She waves as he leaves. Upon entering her door, Chie realizes she has no idea where Sho even lives. Does he even have a house? Not wanting to get worried over something like that, Chie shakes her head and plops down her shoes.

Back outside, Sho wanders the streets, not quite ready to head back home. Today had been odd. Got to fight a bit, so that was nice. But what the heck was that hug? Who does that? Thinking back, Sho remembers seeing couples sitting like that on park benches. Was that suppose to be a sign of friendship or something. What an odd way to show your feelings. He shrugs then blushes a little as he remembers Chie's brilliant smile.

Once his tiny, desolate home comes into view, Sho enters its doors and quickly falls asleep, wondering if he might take up her offer to go to school. Chie was right, it would be something to do at least.


	7. Chapter 7

Deciding to take up Chie's offer, Sho starts school. Whispers follow him up and down the hallways but he is able to see Chie and the days aren't so quiet. He appreciates the noise and decides this isn't so bad. For several days after he begins school, Sho and Chie meet up after school and train by the river bank. More than once, Sho has felt eyes burning into his back, but the days were more fun than they'd been in a long time. So after the first couple of days, Sho ignores the burning all together. With Chie's help, he learned to smile a bit better. They often headed over to Aiya's to have beef bowls together.

With Chie, laughter and friendly fights have begun to replace the silence that had bored itself into Sho's mind since Minazuki's passing. He wondered if this is how all friendships were. If so, maybe Yu and his friends were right. Maybe with friends the world didn't suck so much. In such a short time, Sho bonded greatly with the spunky girl in green. She had such an open heart and despite her occasional sad glances, Chie had gotten use to his banter.

In only a week, the two become nearly inseparable. Yukiko easily comes to terms with things and accepts Sho as a strange new friend. Yosuke and Teddie attempt to do the same thing, but they have a harder time doing so. Kanji, on the other hand, can't seem to accept that Sho is becoming a friend. He wasn't happy with the man who tried to kill everyone coming in and taking a seat with the rest of them. He watches Sho with harshly judging eyes, silently awaiting a mistake. Yosuke often chats with Kanji and together they admit their discomfort with Sho, but every day, they try to befriend him a little more.

By the same time the next week, Sho and Chie have started a new ritual together. Every day they would leave school together and train by the river. After that, they would go to Aiya and see who could eat the most. Rainy days were the best as they often ate for free. After a filling after school meal, they would head to the pavilion and quickly do their homework together. Despite not being in school, Sho was smart and relatively quick to catch on. Especially in math, so he often spent his time helping Chie. After homework, they would take out their frustrations on one another by means of another fight. Then, after the fun and fights, Sho would walk Chie home.

Sho liked the new ritual, though odd feelings would bubble up more and more in his stomach with each passing day. He found that smiling had new meaning and sometimes, just sometimes, fighting wasn't as much fun as chatting or going to the arcade. There were days where he really wanted to just beat someone's face in, but he didn't dare break Chie's trust. Therefore, he kept his violent side under wraps as to keep his new friendship alive.

Tonight however, after dropping off Chie to her home, Sho felt eyes burning into his back and decided to confront them.

"Can you stop with the sneaking?! You aren't any good at it." He spins around and carefully eyes the darker walkway. None-to-surprisingly, Kanji walks out of one of the shadows and crosses his arms over his chest. "You again."

"You and Chie are friends now right?" Kanji asks bluntly. Sho scratches his head.

"What kind of dumb question is that?" He retorts then readies himself for a fight.

"Well, I saw you beating her up the other day. Not a very friendly thing to do." Kanji didn't realize that their fighting was a mutual decision and had told everyone about seeing Sho beating up Chi by the river. Behind Kanji, still lurking in the shadows, was a nervous Yosuke. Yosuke wanted to believe that Sho really had turned things around and befriended Chie but when Kanji approached him with his concerns, he couldn't help but wonder. He had come along to be a second pair of eyes. So far, Sho hadn't been too aggressive or overly defensive.

"Yeah? And she tried to beat me up too. It's called training. It happens every day." Sho shrugs as if unsure why this would even be worth mentioning. Kanji stiffens up.

"You so sure about that?" Kanji seemed to be raring for a fight. He cracked his knuckles. At seeing this, Sho lit up like a firework. Someone new to fight was always fun.

"I'm pretty damn sure, but we can fight if you'd like. Don't know what good it'd do, but a good brawl is always ok with me." Sho stretches his back as a large grin appears on his face.

Seemingly without hesitation, Kanji charges and the two of them start to fight. Yosuke watches from the sidelines a bit uneasy. Both Kanji and Sho were great fighters but was this really necessary? He opens his mouth to speak as Sho takes a hard hit in the chest but then flinches as he hardly reacts and responds with an equally as powerful hit.

As the fight becomes heated, a familiar voice shouts from the distance:

"Sho stop!"

It was Chie.


	8. Chapter 8

"What are you doing Sho?!" Her face was red with rage as she walked up. "I told you not to fight my friends!"

Being in the middle of the fight, Sho looks toward Chie with nervous eyes. He hadn't started the fight, but he _had_ made a promise not to fight her friends from the Investigation Team. And tonight he had broken that promise.

_Man. Friendship is pretty hard. Who'd have known?_

He blocks a couple of Kanji's punches then glances over to see Chie glaring at him. So, with mixed feelings of defeat and utter rage, Sho places his feet shoulder width apart, straightens his arms to his sides and holds his head high. As Kanji reels in for another hit, not realizing what Sho was doing, Sho takes a deep breath to prepare for the hit. Still watching from the sidelines, Yosuke flinches when Kanji's powerful punches hit Sho at full force. The right hand punches Sho square in the stomach and the left hand clocks him right in the temple. His brute force causes Sho to fall backwards and slam into the ground, but Sho refused to even defend himself so he falls to the ground like a ragdoll.

THUNK! CRACK!

"Ugghh." Sho lays on the ground and looks up to the suddenly confused Kanji. Up until this point, he'd hardly got a good hit in. What happened?

"Kanji, I don't think he's trying anymore." Yosuke finally speaks up as he looks from the obviously frustrated Sho to the baffled Kanji.

"But! He!" Kanji's voice becomes flustered. "With Yu-senpai gone, my dyeing skills not getting better and now this guy trying to be all friendly after attempting to kill us all...I just got angry." He flings his Yasogami jacket over his shoulder then huffs. "Its not like he didn't want to fight or anything."

Chie had watched as Sho stopped fighting and allowed himself to be hit. She knew that wasn't something he would normally do. Upon hearing Kanji and Yosuke talk, she finally understood what had happened. This fight hadn't been Sho's idea! Without wasting another second, she runs up to confront Kanji.

"I told you Yu-kun said I should try to make friends with Sho, right?" She has her hands on her hips and looks up to him with anger filled eyes. "Then you go and fight him! I know he _was_ bad, but it's not that way now!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Sho grumbles from the ground. He hasn't dared to move yet as his head was spinning with the harsh impact of the cement. "I ain't no saint or anything. Kanji's right. I _did want_ to fight. I just didn't fight to kill." After that, Sho groans again then slams his hand on the ground.

_Taking hits like that really sucks. Man, making "bonds" isn't easy._

"I know Chie. I shouldn't-"

"And Yosuke, you just stood there like a big oaf the whole time didn't you?!" Chie kicks him in the stomach. "You know Kanji's temper!"

"Yeah, well, Kanji said Sho was beating you up the other day. And I don't entirely trust him yet either." Yosuke moans the words as he holds his stomach.

"Beating me...up?" Chie stops boucing and stands up straight. "He saw us training and thought Sho was beating me up?" She questions with a sigh. Kanji and Yosuke nod. "Well, next time maybe you should talk to me first, huh?" With a fist, she threatens them. Yosuke nods then grabs Kanji's arm.

"Alright, let's go." Yosuke hates to admit it, but even after everything they went through in the TV, Chie still scares him a little. So he leads Kanji away, leaving Sho alone with Chie. If he stopped fighting, just like that, he can't be all that bad anymore right? He did sort of face himself and awoke to his persona so, that usually changes a person, right?

Starting to sit up, Sho watches them leave and scoffs. "Buh bye!" He calls almost tauntingly, but then grabs the back of his head as it was still spinning. With a groan, he forces himself into a sitting position then sighs. "Chie, I-"

"Are you ok? What were you thinking just standing there?! Kanji IS pretty strong after all." Chie quickly kneels beside him and looks him over. The spot on his temple was already beginning to bruise. With a tender hand, Chie motions toward the back of Sho's red hair. "Can I make sure it isn't bleeding."

"Eh, I'm fine!" Sho fakes his well-being and stands up quickly. His footing is shaky though so he nearly collapses again. Reacting quickly, Sho plops back down in a sitting position and holds his head a little low. "Yeah well it was the ground that did the most damage."

"You should just let me check your head. It's no good pretending to not be hurt if you have a concussion!" She tries to grab his shoulders to keep him still but Sho leans out of the way.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'll be fine!" He barks this, but a slight blush comes to his cheeks when she moves closer. Despite spending most of the past week and a half together, Sho found Chie being too close caused weird feelings to mull about in his stomach. He wished he had Minazuki to ask what they meant, but that other voice still hadn't returned. Maybe it was time to admit he was gone for good.

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Chie grabs his shoulders and quickly wraps one arm around him to hold him still while carefully pushing his hair about, checking to make sure the back of his head wasn't too bad. While there was a pretty nasty scrape, it wasn't bleeding too badly so Chie was sure Sho would be fine.

Meanwhile, Sho's face was bright red as the feeling of her this close made his chest bubble and his stomach do flips. Her hand tousling his hair felt unusually nice too, well until it got to close to the sensitive area where the cement had punched him. Trying to subdue the weird feelings, Sho takes a deep breath and weakly pushes at her arm.

"Man, let go of me. I should just go home and sleep this off." He looks to his feet as he slowly stands up. Chie looks to him judgingly as she hops to her feet but when her eyes catch a glimpse of the pink tint to his pale face, she smiles and releases a tiny giggle. Hearing her laugh, Sho glares at her. "What's so funny, huh?!"

"Why are you blushing? It's kinda cute!" Chie giggles as she follows the now embarrassed Sho down the road. Sho shoves his hands in his pockets then grumbles an inaudible response. Feeling unusually comfortable with the friendship, Chie bounced in front of him with a bold smile. "Are you embarrassed that I am helping you?!" She covers her mouth then laughs again.

"No! It's not that it's-" He bites the inside of his lip and pouts. "It's nothing."

"Will you stop lying to me!" Chie says this playfully, but as Sho already felt guilty for breaking an earlier promise, he stops walking and sighs. Surprised by the more serious look on Sho's face, Chie stops bouncing around and looks up to him. "What is it?" She questions nervously.

Sho looks at her and finds it hard to meet her eyes.

_What is the useless feeling?! It's...frustrating! Come on man, just do it!_

As Minazuki could no longer give him pep talks, Sho had given in to giving himself pep talks when the moment arose. He finally meets her eyes and the weird emotions flow through him again. They're so overwhelming that they send shivers up his back, which become visible to Chie. He watches as her eyebrows furrow in worry as though she's done something wrong.

_This silly girl. She should hate me, but here she is, worried that she might have hurt my __**feelings**__ or something. Man, why are people so weird?_

"Stop feeling guilty!" Sho shouts at last. "It's not...your...fault that..." He stumbles over his words, unsure how to explain his strange behavior. Then he remembers bracing himself for a hit he would not shield. If he could do that without a hassle then surely he could do this. "It's just that I get these weird feelings when I'm with you. I don't know what they mean or anything. It's just weird. And then I blush sometimes when I..." He takes a deep breath, trying to shoo away the shallow ones invading his lungs. While speaking of the blush, his cheeks begin to glow brilliantly again. "When I look at you."

"What are you saying?" Chie feels herself blushing as well. She thinks she understand the feelings he's trying to explain, but it couldn't be. More than once, she'd found herself blushing as she admired his well built body in between swings as they trained or while they chatted at Aiya. But she honestly didn't think he COULD feel things like that. She watches him nervously fidget despite being a tad bit dizzy and wonders if he really might...like her.

"I don't know. All I know is...I'm sure I've never felt like this before."


	9. Chapter 9

At this, Chie covers her mouth and shakes her head. Was he serious? Did he really like her? She swallows the lump in her throat then nods.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better...I understand." Chie admits then follows close by as Sho has begun to walk once again. She smiles as she watches Sho nervously kick his feet along the ground.

"Man, my head hurts. This sucks." Sho decides to avoid the topic then turns around the corner. This part of town was quiet and a little more run down. Chie isn't sure she's ever been to this part of Inaba. She looks around and wonders if this could be where Sho has been staying since waking up from his coma. He stops suddenly at a door and turns to face Chie. "Well, I'm here so, you should probably go home huh?"

"I told my mom I went for a run. I have some time." Chie knew she _should_ go home, but she wanted to see Sho's house. Did it look any better on the inside or was it just as run down? Sho unlocks the door then turns to face Chie with an odd smile. This was the first person he'd shown this house to. Sure he owned it, he'd bought it with Ikutsuki's money but he did little to fix it up. He'd paid it off and had set up an account to pay the bills each month, which were never very high as he didn't often use electricity or gas. More often than not, he would simply sit in the dark, bored or wander around outside, hoping for something exciting to happen. Only when the Investigation Team had been running a muck had there been any excitement in this pitiful town. More than he'd like to admit, Sho missed those times. They'd been exciting...and he'd had Minazuki.

Chie follows him inside and sees that there is little furnishing in the home. The bland colored walls are not decorated, upon them there are no pictures or paintings. The living room holds only a small sofa and coffee table with a 24" television upon it. She wanders slowly into the room and wonders how long he has lived like this and why. Even when she looks up, Chie only sees a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. With sorrow filled eyes, Chie thinks about her own room. It was full of colors, decorated heavily with kung fu figures and workout gear. She couldn't imagine living in a place like this.

Seemingly unaware of Chie's baffled despondency, Sho heads into the living room and opens his nearly empty refrigerator. He grabs a bottle of water, downs a large gulp then places the well chilled bottle on the back of his throbbing head. Only when he turns around does he see the dumbfounded look on Chie's face. Sho sighs and shrugs.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. It's not much but it's mine." He rubs his neck and looks sideways toward his kitchen. There's a fridge, stove and a handful of empty cabinets. No dishes lay in the sink as he was careful to clean the few dishes he did have. A pantry sits slightly open, revealing a few cans and boxes but nothing substantial. Looking around, he supposed the house did look a little bland but nothing to warrant that face right?

"It's so...empty." Chie muses quietly. Her eyes wander along the empty walls as she walks through the house, looking it over without asking whether that was okay. She sees a tiny two top dinner table, sitting carefully under the lone bulb again. Down the dark hallway, Chie can see a doorway that is halfway open, she wonders if that room is Sho's bedroom.

"It's got what I need." Sho responds with a shrug then plops down on his couch, holding the water bottle on the back of his skull. He looked around his house and didn't see anything particularly wrong with it. It was nicer than anywhere else he'd ever lived. Heck, it was the only one that wasn't a large cage that he could remember. Sure, the orphanage had been full of life but it was a very bland living environment with adults who really didn't pay any attention to you.

"Why don't you have any pictures or art? Or anything fun?" Chie sits down beside him and sighs. Even the couch was a little stiff.

"Pictures of what?" Sho grunts a little then lays down as his head was making his eyes heavy. "It's not like I know anyone. And as for art, I've never understood why that stuff mattered." He grumbles. "And fun for me is fighting."

_It's not like I know anyone.._ Chie hears these words and they hit her hard. She constantly forgot just how alone he had always been before this. Who would he have put on his walls? Ikutsuki was apparently a horrible person. And the only other person Chie knew he was raised with was within himself so surely he didn't want to have a bunch of selfies on the wall.

She looks over to see a pained look on Sho's face. It would seem that his head hurt more than he wanted to admit. As if out of reflex, Chie scoots over and pulls his head onto her lap. For only a moment, Sho's eyes shoot open to meet hers, but when Chie begins to run her hand nervously through Sho's rough hair, Sho's eyes close again in ecstasy. This serenity upon Sho's face brings a smile to Chie's lips. While they hadn't known each other long, their personalities mixed great and they had shared several hours of fun a day but Chie was certain she'd never seen such a peaceful smile on his face. Careful not to hit the sore on his head, Chie continued to run her fingers along his scalp.

"You're hair's pretty messy." She mutters with a smile. Sho opens his eyes and growls a little. He rolls over, but can't get himself to pull away from her.

"Then don't touch it!" He grunts despite feeling himself falling into a deep sleep. Chie's small hands run through his hair and silently lull him to sleep. Before he has the gall to say anything more, Sho falls asleep with his head lazily upon Chie's lap.

Once he is asleep, Chie watches as the once strong body curls up nearly into fetal position. While he might act like a great, mighty asshole, Chie was slowly beginning to see through the faulty facade. He wanted everyone dead because he was tired of everyone wishing him dead. That kind of life would certainly make anyone bitter. She rubs at Sho's scalp and watches as a smile grows on his sleeping lips. In his sleep, Sho curls up and cuddles into Chie's warmth. She blushes a little but doesn't dare move.

_He feels funny around me huh? Blushes when he looks at me? I think he really might like me. And I think I might be okay with that. _


	10. Chapter 10

_PI PI PI PI!_

Some time later, Chie's phone starts to ring, loudly ripping her from sleep she didn't realize she had fallen into. Simultaneously, Sho awakes, though his head seems to hurt even worse than it did before he fell asleep. Fumbling around in her pockets to find her screaming phone, Chie turns her eyes down to Sho. The look on his face says it's not the sound of her phone bothering him, though he won't admit that certainly.

_PI PI PI PI!_

At last, Chie grabs up her phone and answers it. On the other end, her mother's words shoot through the phone at lightning speed. Looking at the time, Chie understands why. She must have fallen asleep shortly after Sho had as nearly two hours had passed. Making up a quick lie, Chie explains how she had helped a friend who was hurt. She didn't dare mention it was a boy or that she had fallen asleep with him. Quickly, she adds that said friend might have a concussion so she was afraid to leave them alone right now.

Being highly understanding, the voice on the other end calms and begins to ask if she should expect Chie home tonight. Pausing to look over to Sho who is now attempting to stumble into the kitchen again, Chie decides it best to stay. A slight blush comes to her cheeks as she says she'll be home after school the next day. And with that, Chie ends the call and hurries over to Sho's side.

"Are you okay?" Chie watches as he holds his head.

"What do you think?!" Sho grumbles. "I guess you could say I have-" He growls, "Shit, I can't even pun right now." He grabs a water and downs it very quickly then takes a seat at the tiny dining room table. The back of his head is visably swollen now and just the sight of it makes Chie flinch.

"Would you like some medicine? I have some ibuprofen." Her voice is quiet as she sits down beside him.

"I'd rather just sleep." He groans then takes another drink of his water. Chie watches him and finds herself admiring him in her half awake state. His eyes were such an amazing color, nearly glowing blue, especially against that brilliant red hair. Even when in pain, his face was pretty nice to look at, despite the distinct scar across his nose. Though, over the week, Chie has found herself coming to like the characteristic scar as it was something to truly break him apart from the crowd. Not that his loud voice and nearly constant use of puns wasn't noticeable enough, but it was one more thing to add to the list of interesting quirks about him. Despite having barely moved, Sho's top button had come undone, revealing just a peek of the muscle beneath. While not as ridiculously built as say, Akihiko, Sho wasn't exactly lacking in that department.

When she looks back up, Sho has noticed her staring and he can't help but laugh a little.

"Were you enjoying the 'Sho?'" He smiles his silly sideways grin then points at himself. "Eh? Eh! The Sho...get it! It was funny, laugh!" His enthusiasm does make Chie smile a bit, but her tiredness gets the best of her. A large yawn rips its way out of her lips then she stretches a bit. "Wow, guess it was a pretty lame one huh? Man, didn't think it was that bad." Sho finishes his water then stands up and stretches backwards.

"Oh no! It wasn't-er-it's just-!" Chie fumbles her words as she stands from the chair. "I'm just really tired." She stops herself while she's ahead then stetches her arms far above her head.

Sho looks back at her and grins. Her hair was a mess and her jacket was crumpled from sleeping on the couch. Tired like this, she was actually really cute. He realizes Chie may want her clothes to not look slept in so he glances around suddenly.

"Did you want to borrow clothes?" He asks this then stops and looks at himself then her. "Well, not that anything I have would fit you. Shit, my clothes would probably swallow you whole."

"I didn't even think about that!" Chie gasps. "Oh man, if I go to school looking like this..."

"Eh, your fan club would find you even more adorable I'm sure." Sho says this then realizes what he says. His face burns red, realizing this could be taken as a compliment in itself. He turns away to see if he cant find _something_ she might fit. Luckily, he finds a pair of sweat pants that he honestly isn't sure where they came from and one of his t shirts. While they might be big, it'd be something. Taking a deep breath, Sho returns and tosses the stuff at Chie.

"Fan club?" She starts, then turns toward Sho. Before she can continue, clothes have hit her square in the face. Snatching them up quickly, Chie grabs them and looks at Sho viciously. "Ooo, I should get you for that."

"Yeah? I'd like to see you try!" He taunts then scratches his eyebrow. As he yawns, Sho is caught off guard by Chie jumping toward him with a loud 'HIIIYA' and before he can respond, he is knocked to the ground. This, of course, causes him to hit his head again. Angrilly, Sho jumps up and glares toward her. "Oh sure, that's really nice. Kick me while I'm down." He takes a deep breath. Over the past week, Sho has become increasingly aware of his temper and has tried his damnedest to calm it. If he wasn't especially careful, he could really hurt Chie and as she was his first – and only – friend, he really didn't want to do that. But man was it hard for him to calm that. Sometimes it would be way easier to just beat her up and call it a day.

"You weren't down when I kicked you!" Chie tried to use his own attitude right back at him. She starts bouncing around in a fighting stance.

Obviously feeling rejuvenated, Sho gets ready to fight. A smile blossoms onto his face. This is why he liked Chie. She enjoyed fighting nearly as much as he and she could out eat him, even on the mega beef bowls at Aiya. He could _almost_ be himself around her without getting into too much trouble. Sure, there was the part of him that would gladly kill any who got in his way that he's had to silence, but for the most part he could put a muzzle on it by simply fighting with Chie a bit.

"Rabbit." He crosses his arms then his legs. "You don't stand a chance against me." Swiftly, he reacts as she charges toward him. However, his overconfidence got them best of him. Chie is able to knock him over, but this time he ends up backed against the wall. He holds himself up while simultaneously grabbing Chie in a grapple hold. "You may have hit me, but now there's truly no escape. Hahaha!" He ignores the butterflies flapping around in his stomach and picks up Chie to throw her down. He aims for the couch, but Chie can't see this, so she grabs onto his shoulder and pushes off him toward the ceiling. So, rather than tossing her onto the couch, Sho does a flip then lands comfortably on the couch with a laugh.

"Why do you call me rabbit?" Chie sighs loudly before plopping down onto Sho's stomach. After loudly saying 'oof,' Sho laughs a bit.

"Because you're a rabbit." He reminds her. The weight on his stomach actually seemed to help pop his back into place. How convenient. Chie punches him in the chest.

"Am not!"

"Then prove it."

Chie can't decide the best way to prove it so she simply hops up, swipes up the clothes she planned to borrow then heads down the hallway, hoping she would find the bathroom. She finds it relatively easily. The bathroom has only a frosted glass door, plain sink and toilet and one beige towel. It is painfully obvious that Sho really did only have what he needed. Changing quickly, Chie folds her clothes then places them on the sink. She was honestly surprised to see how clean the house was. For such a chaotic guy, he didn't seem to care much for a mess. However, she did notice what a mess she looked like. The clothes were huge on her, though the pants could be tightened so that was good at least, and her hair was a mess. After running a quick hand through it, Chie exits the bathroom to see that Sho hasn't moved an inch.

"Well I want to sleep so you should move."

"Why should I move? You can have the bed. I'm comfortable here." Sho doesn't even open his eyes.

"I can't take your bed!" Chie feels guilty. He didn't have much as it was, but now he wanted to offer up his bed, no way.

"Then enjoy the floor." He mumbles before rolling over and quickly falling asleep.

Chie stomps toward the room she assumed to be Sho's room. Within that dark room, Chie sees a bed, open closet and Sho's prized swords. The swords are placed close to his bed, something he was probably taught as a child. She lays down in the bed and finds it to be strangely lulling. Just as she falls asleep, she hears something odd from the living room. Was it...Sho talking? Or...was it crying? No, it was too unusual sounding for that. Grudgingly, Chie crawls out of the warm blankets and heads back to the living room.

When she reaches the couch, she sees that Sho is still sound asleep, but also is able to see that he seems to be having a bad nightmare. Unsure what to do, Chie listens to Sho's mutterings while running a hand through his hair.


	11. Chapter 11

"_Just kill them. You've always just killed them. So do it now!" This voice? It's Ikutsuki right? "Stop lollygagging and just get the job done." But what the hell is he talking about? Why can't I see anything._

_And then all of a sudden I can. My hands grip my swords. They're so comfortable within my hands that I hardly realized it. Those grips feel as though it has been made just for me...As my eyes look down the blades of my swords, I see that the blades are at the necks of two children. Shit! When'd I get into a position like this? Do I know these children? And why are they so tall? Or perhaps it is that I am shorter?_

_The children have a mixture of terror, sadness and relief upon their faces. They look skinny, worn down and dressed in such bland garbs that I suddenly know where they are from. The orphanage. So why are they in front of me, necks at my blade? Why does Ikutsuki want me to kill them?_

Still sitting beside Sho, Chie hears mutterings of questions and watches as Sho's hands tighten into fists. What could he be dreaming about? His whole body tenses up and his already pale skin becomes even lighter. She holds her breath for a second, still not sure if she should wake him.

"_They are failures! Get them out of my sight!" Ikutuski shouts and before I can stop myself, my hands move. Then all I see...is blood. So much blood. But, this isn't a dream is it? This is something I use to do when I was locked away in that dungeon of a lab. So...why then is it coming back to me now?_

"_Finally." Ikutsuki puts his hand on my head. The weight there is immense and his height is suddenly realized. He is taller than I, but not by much. This was toward the end, right? "Now, one more test." He points his finger and in front of me I see myself. But I know better than that. The other me is way too damn calm. I know what I'm seeing is the 'other' me...Minazuki. "One of you will die here."_

Sho's breathing halts suddenly. Chie quickly places a hand on his wrist to see if he is still alive. And his heart is thankfully still beating. Actually, it was beating faster than normal. At last, Sho starts to breath again, and under his breath he starts to mutter the word 'no' over and over. Trying to calm him, Chie runs her hand through his hair and grabs one of Sho's hands, hoping the subtle motions would cause him to wake.

_I dont' remember this. _

_I look at Minazuki. He slowly, carefully pulls identical twin blades from his back. His calm eyes are irritating. Impossible! How can you be calm right now?! I don't want to kill Minazuki! So why would he want to kill me? God damnit! This is stupid!_

"_Hey, stop it why don't cha!" I shout toward Minazuki but he charges anyway. Fricken idiot! I watched you die once already I can't do it again! I block his frustratingly timed attacks and don't dare to attack back. I don't want to kill him. I can't. Just like I did during the fight between Kanji, I stand tall and hold myself proud. Though I am a little bit scared, I hold still as Minazuki charges me. Without falter, he slices me down. As I lay there dying all I can say is, "no way."_

_Minazuki smiles down at me evilly. That wasn't his smile. I knew him too well. He never gave __**me**_ _that smile. That was the one reserved for idiots I didn't like. Wait. Does that mean..." Everything fades to black then._

Suddenly, Sho is awake. Chie smiles down at him but can see that whatever the dream was, it still lingered. Sho sits up and rubs his forehead, completely ignoring Chie. His body seems heavy as he releases a loud sigh.

"Have a bad dream?" Chie smiles, hoping her tired playfulness might help ease his mind. Sho simply shakes his head. He looks up to her, trying hard not to cry. Instead, his face is set in a scowl and he grinds his teeth. After harshly rubbing his eyebrow, Sho stands up and heads into his room. Chie curiously follows behind. Her eyes grow wide when she sees him pick up his dual swords.

Unexpectedly, he begins swinging the sword at one of the walls. His arms move quickly, even more quickly than when they fight together. With his swords, Sho's abilities seems to sky rocket. As he slices at the wall, Sho starts to shout 'hya' and put even more of his body into it. His breaths become harsh as he slices over and over, one arm quickly following after the other as if the wall was a vicious enemy.

Standing in the doorway, Chie realizes that the wall he attacks is solid cement. Normally a wall like that would be an inconvenience, but Chie can see many slash marks upon it. In full light, Chie imagines there would be many more slashes noticeable. Is this how he has dealt with his rage? While better than taking it out on people, Chie was still a little frightened by the idea of hanging around with someone as angry as this.

Finally, Sho stops and drops his swords to the ground before collapsing to his knees. Despite all his rage, his tears refused to hide. His brilliant blue eyes finally allow two warm tear drops to fall down his cheek. He finally had to admit it to himself. Somehow, this stupid dream had made him understand that Minazuki really was gone forever. Only his persona remained. Angrilly, Sho grabs the sides of his head and pulls at his hair.

"God I'm such an idiot." He slams his fist into the side of his head, hoping some hint of pain might help to ease away his tears. "A stupid, dumb idiot." He continues to hit himself as he mumbles.

Chie finally steps toward him. Her footing is unsure as she cannot peg what might have happened. Maybe Sho is just far more unstable than he let on. Well, sure, that makes sense. He was abandoned his whole life. Had every dream ripped away. Of course that won't just fix itself over night. She had to have known that. But, somehow she forgets that his past was so horrible. And she didn't even feel like she knew the full extent of it all.

"Sh-Sho?" Chie kneels down beside him and quietly moves one of the sword away. She places a hand on his shoulder and tries to smile. Her worry makes the smile lopsided however. "What happened?"

"He really is gone. That idiot. He didn't have to _die_ just to try to help me. Why'd he have to go and get himself killed, huh?" Sho responds to her, but questions himself as he does. Had Minazuki's death been his fault? Two more tears seem to answer that question. "If I'd just stopped for one second, stopped being such a freakin' brat, he wouldn't have had to go get himself killed." He looks over to Chie and the pain in his eyes radiate through her soul. "I really am an idiot huh?" His voice, harsh only seconds ago drops to a tone of despondence. Sitting beside Chie, Sho's shoulders slump down as his hands fall to the ground. Hitting himself in the head hadn't fixed anything. Attacking the wall had helped a little, but despite his outbreak, Minazuki hadn't come to his aid. The calm, level headed half of him was gone...and it was obvious more than ever that he wasn't coming back.

Chie couldn't find words to say. Too many emotions had just flown by. She had watched Sho go from scared to angry to blindly full of rage and now he was so sad it hurt her heart to watch. It was hard for her to understand how so many emotions could be in the same place at once. Man, where was Yu's knowledge when she needed it?

"He use to take over after my nightmares, you know?" Sho starts speaking again. "Any time I had memories resurface, he'd just take over and it would all be ok." He cocks his head to the side and stares back toward the cement wall. "And when he could tell I was about to lose it, he would take over so that I wouldn't completely wreck myself. I..." A huge sigh escapes his lips then. "I honestly have no idea how to deal with the real world. I've never had to. It's so annoying." Looking at her with guilty eyes, Sho gives a weak grin. "That's why I wanted to destroy it all, you know? I couldn't deal with it. I didn't know how and no one wanted to teach me. So...I just thought it'd be easier...to destroy it. That's what I did with all the other failures. And, to me then, that's all this world was. One giant failure." He wipes a lone tear away. "Minazuki knew that's not what I _really_ wanted all along. But I was so damn stubborn. When you and your friends made him realize that..." Sho swallows a lump in his throat. "I think he sacrificed himself so that I could – no, would have to – learn how to deal with it all. And now, because I am such a stubborn idiot, Minazuki is dead."

Not knowing what else to do, Chie leans in and holds Sho in a tight hug. Her arms embrace him and when her head meets his chest, Chie can feel that every fiber of his being had been straining to constrict the tears. With Chie's embrace, Sho can no longer hold back the tears. He drops his head on to her shoulder and for a couple of minutes, just cries.


	12. Chapter 12

Chie could feel Sho's body weakening in her arms. She almost felt guilty for hugging him. Her mind spins with the information he'd just given her however, so Chie just allows him to cry upon her shoulder without a thought. The dream must have been about Minazuki. God, this would be so hard to deal with. Putting herself in his shoes would be impossible as she'd never experienced anything like that. Not even kind of. She runs her hand through Sho's hair then, as it was something he seemed to enjoy, hoping it might calm his nerves.

"Well...if you need someone to talk to...I'm a pretty good listener you know." Chie whispers at last. "I may not know what to say sometimes. And...and I may not know how to react but I can listen. And I'll try really hard to help." She nods, raising her own confidence in those words. What would she do if he started to tell her about his past? Would she be able to deal with it all?

"Thanks." Sho says finally. He uses his sleeve to wipe away the last of his tears then looks over to her. "But I don't really like talking about that stuff." He sighs then starts to stand up. Chie follows suit. "Man, we should really get some sleep huh?" Sho looks out the window and can tell the night is dwindling down to morning. He wants to sleep, like, _really_ wants to sleep, but that nightmare wasn't going to be an easy one to rid from his mind. Sho remembers the look on Minazuki's face.

_That was the smile for idiots I hate...and right now, there's no idiot I hate more than me._

Beside him, Chie nods and looks back to the bed. For some reason, she wasn't all that tired. Perhaps dealing with Sho's wild emotions had caused her to wake up. She looks up at Sho. His blue eyes are tiredly gazing out the window. He looks so calm right now. It is an unusual thing to see. As she stares at him, Sho begins to speak. Though he speaks to Chie, his eyes refuse to move away from the starry night sky.

"You're a pretty great friend, you know." He speaks quietly. "Dealing with my shit...it won't be easy." Sho's eyes still do not move. "I've got a lot of shit to deal with. You think you're ready for it?"

"I'll do my best." Chie nods then places her arm around Sho's. "Just remember that if you want help, you have to talk with me."

Sho finally looks down as Chie's arm wraps around his. He likes the feeling more than he wants to admit. It's so warm and comforting. A tiny smile cracks onto his face then he nods. When their eyes meet, Sho blushes a little. His heart feels like it is about to explode and his stomach starts to do flips. What is this annoying feeling?

Chie sees the smile and laughs a little. And when he blushes, she can't help but grin as well. But as a look of frustrated confusion comes to Sho's face, her smile dissipates.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know what this feeling is!" Sho pulls his arm free and grabs his swords. He considers attacking the wall again but shakes his head and places them away again. "My stomach flops all over the place and my heart beats faster. It feels like an adrenaline rush, but not." After he speaks, he turns around to see a very red Chie. "What?! What now?" He looks down over himself and doesn't see anything embarrassing.

_That description! Oh man. What do I do now? Oh god. Master, what would you do? Er, that probably isn't a good thing to ask you..._

Chie bites her lower lip and looks up to Sho again.

"That's...oh man, how do I say it." Chie's breathing becomes quickened.

"What am I sick now or something too?!" God, he really is that oblivious.

"No, you...you...like me." Chie spits out at last. Sho rolls his eyes then collapses onto the bed.

"Well duh. We've been hanging out all the time. Isn't that much obvious?" Sho puts his arms under his head, careful not to hit the swollen spot on the back of his head. He shakes his head slowly then grins.

"No! I mean!" Chie huffs then stomps over to look at him. She stands at the edge of the bed, glaring down at him with red cheeks. Sho looks up at her with a sarcastic smile then yawns.

"You mean what?" He yawns.

How else do you put it? Chie wonders to herself. It's more than friendship he's feeling but, how do I explain it without sounding...I dunno, conceited? She looks down to Sho then takes a seat beside him. His left eye opens slightly to see what she's doing then closes again, comfortable with the assumption that she simply wanted to sit.

Subconsciously, her eyes wander over his face. They finally land at his lips. She hadn't noticed how...enticing...they looked before. But she couldn't do _that_, could she? He wasn't looking at her, so that would make it easier, but...oh man. Chie's heart was pounding. As she sat there, she realized that she also liked him but...as he said...Chie wasn't sure if she was ready to take on that much baggage. But, then again...she had helped several others get over their big baggage. Sure, Sho's might be a larger load to carry but he is too stubborn to let her carry much.

Her heart feels as though it might beat right out of her chest. Without realizing it, Chie has started to lean down as she thought.

Sho is pretty nice to look at and his puns made her laugh, he was funny...punny. Haha. That really was the best description. He didn't care how she acted and even let her eat as much meat as she wanted to. Usually, he was impressed by how much she was capable of eating.

As her thoughts spun, her body moved slowly closer to the nearly sleeping guy at her side.

It was fairly obvious that Sho would let her train as often as she wanted and he would gladly train with her every time. He didn't mind when she stumbled over her words or made a fool of herself. He had a temper, but then again, Chie had her own temper too. Maybe, they could help balance each other out in some strange way.

Then she realizes their faces are but inches away, taking one deep breath, Chie decides to go for it. What's the worst that could happen right?

She finally meets Sho's surprisingly soft lips and time stands still.


	13. Chapter 13

Sho's eyes shoot open and he starts to move, but then...he can't help but melt inside. His face turns red as he returns the kiss then turns away quickly. He was more than a little embarrassed. Sure, he'd _seen_ a kiss before, but he never imagined _he_ would even be kissed. Man, what an odd feeling. It was strangely nice.

His eyes turn back to meet Chie. She still sits, propped up on her arms, looking toward Sho. Her cheeks are also red with embarrassment. Sho's baggy clothes make her look so vulnerable and small. He smiles as his eyes meet hers, then, he sits up and nervously places a hand on her jaw and rests his fingers just behind her ear. This was something he'd seen guys do in those cheesy romance scenes. Yeah, he'd been that bored once or twice.

Chie's heart flutters when Sho's fingers interlace with her hair. She didn't know he was capable of being so gentle. It honestly caught her off guard. Then Sho moves in for another kiss. Chie swallows the lump in her throat as their lips touch again. Sparks seem to fly.

Sho takes a deep breath. No wonder there was always a kiss scene in pretty much every damn movie ever. This is a pretty amazing feeling. He breaks the kiss then grabs Chie in a tight hug. Though not sure what to do about these feelings, Sho was glad he finally understood what they meant. Man...falling for his first friend. That's pretty bad, right?

"So...I guess, you didn't...mind then?" Chie utters breathlessly. She places a hand over her heart, attempting to calm it. "I was afraid you'd get angry."

Sho simply shook his head and bit his tongue. He collapses onto the bed, head hitting the pillow a bit harder than he had anticipated. A dull ache swells up in the area hit by the cement. With a sigh, he shakes his head. "Nah." He had wanted to be witty, or say something funny, but his eyes were too heavy and his heart was beating too fast. Therefore, he pulled at the blanket Chie was sitting on and closed his eyes. "Pretty tired though."

"Me too." Chie responds quietly. She gets up and starts to leave the room but is stopped.

"Where the hell are you going?" Sho sits up in bed. He didn't understand why she was leaving. Sure, beds were where most of _those_ kinds of scenes took place but...they were made for sleeping too. And they _were_ both tired.

"To the couch." Chie retorts quickly as her face becomes flush. Was he trying to demand her to sleep with him. He could be pretty rash...but he wouldn't do that would he?

"Why? There's enough room for us both. Just come sleep." He curls over to the furthest edge of the queen sized bed, leaving Chie way more than enough room to sleep without being directly next to him. Only having one pillow, Sho had left it for Chie.

When she turns around to see this, Chie shrugs and releases a sigh. She felt a little guilty for stealing his bed again, but the bed was so much more comfortable than the couch. Carefully, she hopped onto the bed and cuddled into the warmth of the blanket. Within no time at all, she was asleep.

Beside her, Sho couldn't close his eyes without seeing the menacing smile of Minazuki. Therefore, he sits up and turns to look at Chie. She has sprawled all over the bed but was finally sleeping sound. He smiles a bit and laughs. This girl sure had gotten comfortable with him quick. Why would she do all of this for him? Was she just that nice? For it certainly isn't because of him being such a great person.

In her sleep, Chie grins which in turn causes Sho to smile. He lays back down and watches the sleeping girl until he falls asleep himself.


	14. Chapter 14

When the morning sun burns past Chie's sleeping eyelids, she finally awakes and shields her eyes. Still facing her, as if he hadn't moved all night, is Sho. Forgetting, for only a moment, that they had fallen asleep together, Chie's heart jumps into her throat. Her stirring awakes the red haired guy beside her and he opens his eyes with a yawn.

The sun is just over the horizon, but the sky holds no clouds so it is unusually bright. Plus, Sho must have felt curtains weren't that useful as only a strand of thin blinds lay half closed upon the window. Despite this, both Chie and Sho feel pretty well rested. So they stretch and get ready for school. Sho hurriedly takes a quick shower as Chie does some morning stretches. When the squealing water halts, Chie stops stretching and gathers her clothes as she planned to also take a quick shower.

Sho walks into the room then, with only his Yasogami pants on. He couldn't actually see where he was walking as he vigorously dried his hair with a towel. Only by knowing where everything was in his home did Sho walk into the room. His chest still glistened with the small amounts of water dampening there. Because of this, Chie is able to see just how built he really is. His stomach is a six pack, not ultra formed, but there and his entire upper torso has just the perfect amount of definition. When he finally stops drying his hair, Sho rubs his face once more than looks up to see Chie looking at him with a pink tint to her cheeks.

"Whaaat?!" Sho looks down. He had pants on. He was dressed enough. What was her problem?

"No-nothing." Chie shakes her head then quickly walks away.

Upon entering the warm water of the shower, Chie remembers their kisses from the night before. His lips had been surprisingly soft. The flushing on her cheeks remains plastered there as she washes her hair. Was she really doing this? Had she kissed the guy who – less than a month ago – had threatened to kill everyone? Sure, he was really different now after losing Minazuki, but...

His wall was obviously taking a beating because of his bottled up rage and Chie wasn't sure what to do about that. But maybe now wasn't the time to worry about it all. She dries off and hurriedly gets dressed for school. When she reaches the kitchen, Sho is about to take a large bite of steaming corned beef hash. He stops when he sees Chie.

"Made some for you too." He points his thumb at the skillet which still holds half of the can of hash in it. Though slightly burnt, the food smells and looks pretty appetizing.

"Thank you." Chie nods her head a little then scrapes the food up and begins to eat. Since Sho hasn't taken a seat, Chie decides to lean against the counter and enjoy her food near him. In the light, she notices that the bruise on the side of Sho's face has gotten quite dark. "How's your head feeling today?" She questions with a full mouth of food.

"Eh. I've been worse." Sho muses as he downs a quick drink of black coffee. He motions the glass toward Chie but her look of disgust says enough. "I mean, there's milk and sugar too...if that would make it better."

"Nah. I'm not actually all that tired." She smiles then takes another quick bite. "I slept unusually sound last night."

"You must have known I was there to keep you safe!" Sho stands proudly as he rinses off his plate. "I'd like to see an asshole try to hurt you with me around!" He smiles toward her then grabs his shirt off the back of the dining room chair.

"I can protect myself you know!" Chie barks defensively.

"Yeah, but I could definitely beat 'em up faster. And then you wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt." He smirks toward her sarcastically. "Because I'm stronger than you."

"Ooo! How much you wanna bet?!" Chie puts her fists up and lifts her leg, ready to fight. So Sho snatches her leg up, causing her to fly backwards. But he moves so quickly that Chie doesn't hit the ground, instead Sho is holding her bridal style. She growls. "Ugh! You jerk!" But she can't hide the smile growing on her face. Playfully, though somewhat violently, Chie starts to punch Sho's chest. He hardly reacts to her punches.

"Oh quit it with your threats! You couldn't scare me if you tried!" He puts her down then begins to button his shirt then wanders into the living room to grab his shoes and backpack. Chie watches him then realizes that it's been quite some time since she's felt this alive. Since the events within the television ended she'd basically just prepared for the police exam, to follow in her master's footsteps.

"Oh yeah! I need to study for my police exam later, wanna help?" She hurries along, quickly slipping on her shoes and tapping her toes on the ground.

"Police exam?" Sho grumbles.

"Yeah! I wanna be a police officer!" She announces proudly. Sho rolls his eyes.

"You're such a goodie two shoes." He smiles vibrantly. "Get it, cuz you fight with kung fu! So you kick a lot. Get it?" When he looks over to Chie, she returns his eye roll then punches him in the side. Before he can say anything, she pushes him out the front door and they head to school. About a block away from school, Chie sees the rest of the gang hanging out by the school gates. She waves toward them vibrantly then hurries on ahead.

Sho, meanwhile, knows they don't really like him much still so he holds back. He shoves his hands in his pockets and walks up slowly. Upon seeing Kanji standing with the rest of them, Sho angles his head and walks away, heading under a nearby tree instead. He wasn't sure he had the patience to speak with an entire group of people so soon in the day. Especially after sharing so much of his feelings last night. It had left him feeling strangely vulnerable. But, from a distance he watches Chie and sees her brilliant smile as she chats with them all. From this, he finds himself happy. Somehow, he doesn't notice Yosuke walking up from the other direction.

"Yo, Sho." Yosuke calls to him. Sho turns and grimaces. That was the idiot who had stood by and watched the fight. Yu's best friend. He wasn't exactly Sho's biggest fan yet.

"What do you want?" Sho growls then leans against the tree. He glances over at Yosuke from the corner of his eye.

"I wanted to apologize about yesterday. I mean-" Yosuke then sees the bruise on Sho's face. "Damn, Kanji got you pretty good. I mean! Um," He stumbles over his words then.

"It's fine. It doesn't really hurt anyway." Sho mutters as he still watches Chie. Just then, Chie turns around and smiles toward Sho then waves to Yosuke. Chie's smile brings a sort of warmth to Sho's expression that Yosuke hadn't seen before.

"You really _have_ changed haven't you?" Yosuke asks when he sees Sho's reaction to Chie.

"Yeah..." Sho sighs. "I still want to beat you all up. But at least now I might not want to kill you all." He snickers then turns to see Yosuke's reaction.

"Gotta start somewhere right?" Yosuke's light response catches Sho off guard. This is obvious by Sho's wide eyes. Then the bell rings indicating the beginning of school.


	15. Chapter 15

Over the next few days, Sho and Chie aren't sure whether to act upon their feelings again so they come to a stand still. But Chie continues to urge Sho to try talking to everyone else a little more. He does so and soon finds them beginning to accept him. More than once he'd even made Yukiko break out into boisterous laughter with some of his puns and comebacks. That made him feel strangely happy.

He and Chie continued to train each day and he even tried to help her with some of her police exam studies. Having been trained in nearly every style of fighting as well as various methods of tactics, he proved more useful than either of them had expected. This was something he also became proud of.

Almost a week later, Yukiko came out and questioned Chie and Sho's relationship. Neither of them knew what to say so an awkward tension had filled the air. Yukiko hadn't noticed it. Not that this was very surprising for her.

After that, Chie and Sho went to the river bank and sat to watch the river rather than fight.

"So..."Chie starts. "What _are_ we?" She questions with a blush. "Do you want me to just be your friend or...?" Her cheeks grow even more rosy. "I mean, I wouldn't _mind_ being your girlfriend. It's just..." Chie's words become even more nervous until Sho bends over and kisses her.

Behind them, sitting up at the pavilion, Kanji and Teddie sit together, working on making a few new cloth dolls. They watch this happen and Teddie gets pumped up. He wanted to kiss a pretty girl too! But Kanji stops him and forces Teddie to focus. Seeing the two of them like that _does_ make Kanji feel a bit more comfortable however. Chie was obviously not in danger anymore. Heck, even he'd started to like 'ol scarface. He was fun to mess with and always ready for a fight.

After the long kiss, Sho turns away and looks into the sunset. His face was blushing a little, but his eyes were finally calm and happy. He speaks while staring into the horizon. "You're my girl alright." He laughs a bit. "I mean, who else can I get to challenge me to the rainy day beef bowl challenge and win every time?"

"Hey, you almost won the last time!" Chie cuddles into Sho and feels herself becoming less embarrassed with their closeness. Then the two of them sit together quietly again.

As the sun starts to set, they decide to head to the nearby mall and take some pictures together. They enter the photo booth and take a handful of silly pictures together. Sho flicks Chie's nose in one which leads to a strand of them fighting. Then the last strand is of them smiling together and finally a kiss. Chie demands that Sho takes the pictures to his place.

Without any argument, Sho goes home and places a strand in each room. With this, his home becomes better than ever and he feels the stress of losing Minazuki melting away. As their relationship grows, Sho and Chie build up enough joy between themselves that Sho is sure that Minazuki would be happy for him. At last he has found a place to belong.

Sitting on the couch one night, watching some kung fu movie with Chie, Sho feels his heart settling. Smiles were no longer rare in his life and friends were slowly becoming part of his daily routine. He sighs and looks up to the ceiling.

_Thanks Minazuki._ Sho smiles then looks over to Chie and holds her tight. _This really was my wish. And I'm glad __**you**__ knew it at least._ He messes up Chie's hair then she pushes him away playfully. Together, they would surely make life worth living. She would surely help Sho to survive day to day. Feeling more confident than ever, Sho laid down and put his head on her lap. Now habitual, Chie begins to run her fingers through his hair. And with a pleasant smile, Sho falls asleep thankful he has made a friend – and more – at last.

I think this is all for now. I don't know if I feel like writing more. Let me know your opinion in the reviews!


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